The Los Angeles County General Hospital moved into a brand new building in 2008. The Replacement Facility has more than 600,000 square feet.

Brain Injury Clinic

The LAC+USC Brain Injury clinic is located in the Outpatient Tower of the new Los Angeles County Hospital. The clinic is open one afternoon per week. Every patient is assessed (history, neurologic exam, image review, management plan, etc) by the Brain Injury Clinic Director Neurosurgeon. Physical and Occupational Therapy consultation in Brain Injury Clinic may include referral to Rancho for additional inpatient care. A limited number of patients come to the Brain Injury Clinic with defects in their skull from surgery to relieve pressure in the hours immediately following a head trauma. Some patients carry their bone flap around in a pouch under the skin of their belly until a neurosurgeon puts it back in the skull. If the bone flap was not put in the patient’s abdominal wall at the time of craniectomy, a synthetic plastic flap is created that is then surgically implanted.

Each patient has an evaluation by a neurosurgeon. After giving and explaining the patient’s diagnosis(es), the neurosurgeon makes appropriate treatment recommendations. Some require surgery to cover large openings in the skull following craniotomy and insertion/revision of ventriculoperitoneal shunt are some of the operations performed by LAC+USC Neurosurgery recommended to appropriate brain injured patients. Hydrocephalus may require placement of a ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt. Referral to several departments at LAC+USC and of the Los Angeles County Departments of Health Services and of Mental Health offer services to patients referred from LAC+USC Brain Injury Clinic.

Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center

Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center (RLANRC) is located in Downey, California approximately 15 miles from LAC+USC Medical Center.

More than 100 patients are transferred annually to Rancho. The largest number of LAC+USC brain injury patients with good outcomes who go to a rehabilitation facility, go to Rancho Los Amigos Hospital (RLAH) in Downey, California. Rancho and LAC+USC Neurosurgery work closely to insure neurosurgical follow up during the brain injury rehab recovery phase.